AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Protests against immigration raids spread to more cities across the country, as the president threatens to deploy more military forces.

We speak with the mayor of Los Angeles.

AMNA NAWAZ: The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, discusses the ongoing conflict and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Judy Woodruff visits a project restoring social trust and civic engagement in a time of increasing national division.

FREDERICK RILEY, Executive Director, Weave: The Social Fabric Project, Aspen Institute: It was important to us when we started this work to do work that actually was applicable to red and blue states.

Bringing those groups together is the only way we're going to build trust in this country.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

A curfew in downtown Los Angeles remains in effect tonight.

And hundreds of anti-ICE protesters have been arrested in Los Angeles and multiple cities this week.

The National Guard also confirmed today it had temporarily detained civilians in L.A. and said more troops could be deployed with immigration agents.

That's as they continue their pursuit of undocumented immigrants.

AMNA NAWAZ: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and more than two dozen other California mayors asked President Trump to end the sweeping immigration raids.

But, today, they continued in California, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, among other places.

In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson called President Trump a tyrant and authoritarian.

The president's team defended his approach and warned that Guard troops could be deployed to other cities.

Special correspondent Marcia Biggs continues our coverage tonight with this report.

MARCIA BIGGS: From Atlanta, to New York City, where more than 80 people were arrested, and Chicago, where police clashed with demonstrators and several more were detained, to Texas, where police pinned protesters to the ground, and Governor Greg Abbott said he would deploy the National Guard ahead of a planned protest in San Antonio, across the country, anti-ICE protesters gathered in the streets in solidarity with those in Los Angeles.

Yesterday in L.A., protesters continued marching against ongoing immigration raids.

And the city's Mayor Karen Bass declared a curfew for parts of downtown beginning at 8:00 p.m. Last night, California Governor Gavin Newsom again condemned the administration's decision to send in the National Guard and the Marines.

GOV.

GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk.

California may be first, but it clearly will not end here.

Other states are next.

Democracy is next.

Democracy is under assault before our eyes.

This moment we have feared has arrived.

MARCIA BIGGS: And, yesterday at Fort Bragg, President Trump claimed the protesters were paid insurrectionists.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries, but they don't carry the American flag.

They only burn it.

We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.

And that's what they are.

A lot of those people were let in here by the Biden administration.

MARCIA BIGGS: He vowed to keep the troops in L.A. -- quote -- "until there's peace."

Downtown L.A. Vape and smoke shop owner Tony, who refused to give his last name, said he defended his business with pepper spray on Monday night after seeing looters breaking into neighboring stores.

TONY, Los Angeles Business Owner: I'm an immigrant myself.

I'm from Lebanon.

I'm half-Armenian.

And I have been here for 10 years.

And I would never do something like that to another business.

Destroying businesses and making us spend thousands of dollars boarding up businesses is not fair for us.

MARCIA BIGGS: He supports having the National Guard on the streets to protect businesses.

TONY: Where the protests are happening, it is peaceful, like at the building and stuff like that.

But, usually, like, at night, late hours, people are starting to, like, start looting.

I don't know if they were the protesters or they're just taking advantage of the chaos that it's creating.

MARCIA BIGGS: But, last night, the curfew and heavy police presence seemed to keep looters at bay across downtown.

Lifelong Angeleno Sarah Rascon says looting and violence are a small part of what's happened in recent days.

SARAH RASCON, Los Angeles Resident: It's unfortunate that that's what's highly televised and that's not what's happening.

You know, 99 percent of us are here for peaceful protest and demonstration, and they taint the movement.

MARCIA BIGGS: She says she's here to show support for the city's immigrants.

SARAH RASCON: I am here for all the abuelitas, all the people who are afraid, those that have been working for our communities, those who make up our economy, those who are doing the backbreaking work and can't be here.

MARCIA BIGGS: In nearby Glendale, the city this week terminated a longstanding contract that allowed ICE to use its jail to temporarily hold undocumented immigrants.

ARA NAJARIAN, Mayor of Glendale, California: Here we are in Glendale offering them much more than a cold basement.

We're offering them a clean, safe place where they can collect their thoughts, take care of their affairs, speak to attorneys, be fed, be washed, clean up.

And we're taking that away from them.

MARCIA BIGGS: Ara Najarian is Glendale's mayor.

ARA NAJARIAN: We clearly saw that we were on the target list and that made us very uncomfortable.

As the leaders of Glendale, our primary goal is to keep our residents safe, our businesses safe, our property safe.

We felt that continuing to have that contract, even though we felt we were doing nothing wrong and were being very humane in the process, would lead to the type of protests, the same type that we see in downtown L.A., to come to Glendale.

MARCIA BIGGS: Najarian says the decision was difficult.

Immigrant rights advocates praised the move.

But the Department of Homeland Security said Glendale was standing with -- quote -- "criminal illegal aliens over American citizens."

ARA NAJARIAN: I really take offense at the characterization that I stand with illegal aliens and criminals.

I believe that we should enforce our immigration laws.

I think, when you're discussing these issues, they are very nuanced.

It's not just black or white.

We don't want to be an oppressive authoritarian city.

We have a city of 50 percent immigrants.

My parents are immigrants.

Most of my family are immigrants from Armenia.

We have got a huge Armenian population here, Korean, Latino, Central American.

We don't want to be the big bad guy, but we saw that we were giving an opportunity for respite along this process that now those detainees do not have.

(SINGING) MARCIA BIGGS: Back in L.A. last night, thousands attended a vigil with faith leaders.

Reverend Jaime Edwards-Acton was in the crowd.

REV.

JAIME EDWARDS-ACTON, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church: and If you're a daughter or son and your father was taken away, you're not just going to be grieving.

You're going to be angry, right?

You're going to be angry and you want justice.

And so you're going to make that known.

And so you're going to shout.

You're going to scream.

You're going to yell at people.

But it's very few that take it beyond that, right?

And so -- and we're here to try to be -- to show that alternative, right, that nonviolent alternative.

MARCIA BIGGS: The crowd then marched to the federal complex nearby where the National Guard stood watch.

Like in previous nights, there were some tense moments outside the federal complex here.

Police had to block roads and even fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

The crowd eventually thinned.

Protesters are back at it again today, but after a calmer night, there are some small signs of a return to normalcy with crews even out trying to clean up the graffiti in the area.

But all of this is happening as we hear reports today of more ICE raids in various parts of the city -- Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia Biggs reporting for us from Los Angeles tonight once again.

Marcia, thank you.

Well, for more now on how lawmakers are viewing the protests and the president's response, we're joined by congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins.

So, Lisa, I know you have been speaking with members of Congress all day today.

Let's start with the Republicans you have been speaking to.

How are they viewing the president's actions?

LISA DESJARDINS: There is one overall theme for most Republicans.

They support the president.

They support the actions here.

There is a small minority that has some questions about what's happening and maybe has an issue, has an issue with the Marines themselves.

But the vast majority of Republicans here on Capitol Hill that we spoke to today support the president.

And they say three specific things.

One, they're telling us that they think the situation in Los Angeles was too volatile, too dangerous.

And they have even pointed to past situations, in their opinion, to say that California was not going to get the situation under control.

Number two, repeatedly, there is sort of a talking point, a messaging and a belief by these Republicans that President Trump did need to take action because his job is to protect Americans.

Number three, and this is important, Amna, Republicans today, many of them repeated this idea to me, that the Marines are there only to protect federal buildings and federal personnel.

So while they weren't saying this was a red line for them, this was something that made it easier for Republicans to support active-duty troops going into Los Angeles from President Trump.

Now, we spoke to many Republicans today.

I want to play a little bit of what some said, but many of them, while they're defending President Trump, were criticizing California Governor Gavin Newsom.

So here's some of what we heard starting with a California Republican.

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA): To be honest, my governors on the wrong side of history, like governors in the past who stood in the way of civil rights.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I want to see rule of law.

I mean, in the end, we can't rationalize or accept the violence and the burning of cars.

So I guess I think the president's doing the right thing.

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, this has been the dominant thought, supporting the president from Republicans.

I will say this conversation, this topic is not actually dominant itself on Capitol Hill.

More members left and right seem to be focused on the president's budget bill.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Lisa, you mentioned there a minority of Republicans who disagree with the federal response.

Tell us who we're talking about there and what their criticism is.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

We're talking about those who are speaking out publicly.

There's a nuanced layer here, but let's talk about this small number of people who are questioning President Trump's actions.

You can look at this right here.

We talked to Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins today.

She is someone who does not believe the president should send active-duty Marines into the sphere.

She says that is a problem, especially with state-owned authority.

The other one, Tony Gonzales, of Texas, he's someone who generally supports the president taking action here, but has called for the president to de-escalate what he's doing in Los Angeles.

Now, what's interesting here is, Democrats, of course, they are united in terms of opposing what President Trump is doing and his actions.

Here's some of what they have said.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): This is not a rebellion.

This is not an insurrection.

These are demonstrators, only a small number of whom have engaged in violence.

It's a very serious issue for every governor in every state if the president, on his own whim, decides to take command of a state's National Guard.

LISA DESJARDINS: Multiple Democratic sources stressed this point to me, saying, if Trump did this in a rural or red state, then Republicans might feel differently.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, before you go, I know you have some reporting on the rescissions package before Congress.

What's the latest on that?

LISA DESJARDINS: Quickly, this is touch and go right now.

This is our exclusive reporting, as far as I know, right now.

We know of four House Republicans who are questioning the rescissions package.

You can look at some pictures of them.

These are generally moderate Republicans.

They're questioning the rescissions package on two grounds, the public broadcasting cuts and also the cuts to PEPFAR, the program that tries to prevent and treat HIV across the world.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins, thank you very much.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, downtown Los Angeles has been the center of protest against federal immigration raids.

GEOFF BENNETT: I spoke with its mayor, Karen Bass, a short time ago.

Mayor Karen Bass, thank you for being with us.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

What is the current situation the ground right now?

You imposed a curfew in downtown Los Angeles.

Has it helped de-escalate the violence, prevent the types of looting we saw earlier this week?

KAREN BASS (D), Mayor of Los Angeles, California: Well, absolutely, it did.

Last night was the first night of the curfew.

And I will tell you, over 100 people were arrested, but they were arrested for failure to disperse and violating curfew, no violence, no vandalism.

And so that is different than the night before.

But when you ask what is going on in general, the city is quiet now.

There are raids that are taking place today.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, you and dozens of other regional mayors have called for an end to the federal immigration enforcement raids and the deployment of federalized troops.

I want to ask about both of those matters.

But on the immigration raids, I mean, generally speaking, how has it affected immigrant families, the business community, the broader fabric of Los Angeles?

KAREN BASS: Well, and the broader fabric of Los Angeles is absolutely critical, because there are sectors of our economy that are absolutely dependent on immigrant labor.

And so I worry about the construction industry, the hospitality industry.

There is a lot of overall economic impact to our area, but also most important to me are the impact on families, because when your husband goes to work in the morning and gives you a call and says, hey, I think I'm being detained, and you don't know if you're going to see him again, you don't know where he's being taken, is he still in the United States, has he been sent overseas?

Are the people -- do they have any access to their family?

Do they have any access to legal counsel?

And it's my understanding that none of that is taking place.

So it leaves the city with a blanket of fear, a blanket of mistrust and anxiety.

GEOFF BENNETT: The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, as you well know by now, said today that your opposition to President Trump and his immigration approach, in her words, "has forced you to side with illegal alien criminals and violent rioters over law enforcement officers who are just doing their jobs."

I have no doubt you take issue with that.

But President Trump was elected on this pledge to enforce strict immigration laws.

So what would a just, responsible immigration enforcement approach look like, in your view, especially in a city like Los Angeles, which is a city of immigrants?

KAREN BASS: Yes.

And let me just say that, if I had supported the violence, I would have not called for a curfew.

I would have not asked the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies to actively, aggressively participate.

Well, I think, when the president first came in, I think we were all led to believe that the focus was going to be on criminals, drug dealers, violent people.

And it's -- I'm hard-pressed to see that when you are chasing people through Home Depot parking lots, when you're sweeping up street vendors who are selling food, when you're going to a car wash and arresting the people that work there, or the customers.

Those are all things that happen.

The other thing that is happening is people who are here legally with papers, they go for their annual immigration visit to check in, as they are instructed to do, and they do that, and they are being detained.

GEOFF BENNETT: With President Trump federalizing and deploying the National Guard and U.S. Marines over the objections of state and local leaders, what at this point is the level of communication and coordination aimed at managing their presence alongside local law enforcement?

KAREN BASS: Well, now, I haven't spoken to the governor today, but when I last spoke with him, which was yesterday, there was no coordination and there was no communication.

So the federalization of the National Guard was completely unwarranted.

We are used to making that request of our governor, and we have a great relationship, and he always assists when it is appropriate.

No one asked for that help.

You were talking about minor protests, but every time you do something like this, you provoke the population even further.

They are angry because of the raids, they are angry because of the National Guard being here, and now they are really going to be angry if the troops come in.

But even more important than that, what are they going to do?

There is no reason for them to be here.

Right now, the National Guard is protecting one building.

That's it.

They are not involved in crowd control or anything like that.

GEOFF BENNETT: You have said that you see Los Angeles right now as a national experiment in how far the federal government can go in asserting control over cities and states.

What do you believe is the Trump administration's end goal?

And what should other mayors, other cities take from what you have learned in this experience over the past week?

KAREN BASS: Well, I think we are all going to have to look at legal remedies, but I think that we are fortunate in Los Angeles to have a highly organized, well-established immigrant rights sector of our nonprofit community.

And so they are ready when things like this happen.

They have a rapid response network.

They know when the tensions are happening.

They have a bank of a bench of lawyers that can be in contact with people who are detained, if they are allowed.

That is their due process.

That had been the behavior in prior administrations, but this time they are not being allowed.

GEOFF BENNETT: Final question.

When President Trump calls the city of Los Angeles a trash heap, as he did yesterday, when his top aide Stephen Miller accuses you of siding with what he called an insurrectionist mob, to what degree does that complicate your ability to govern effectively and maintain the public confidence?

KAREN BASS: Well, it doesn't really hamper my ability, but all it does is increase the anger in the city.

It increases the anger.

Now, I was there January 6.

I saw an insurrection.

What is going on here is not an insurrection.

And, by the way, it's most important that I tell you that Los Angeles is 500 square miles.

The area where the protests and sometimes devolving into violence is probably about half-a-square mile.

It's about five blocks in the downtown area.

Now, the curfew that I called for covers six square miles, so it's a lot bigger than the protest area.

But when you look at the pictures, especially national news, you think this is happening all over the city.

Most Angelenos have no idea unless they're watching the news.

You could go a few blocks away from where the protests has happened and you won't know that there's anything happening in our city at all.

GEOFF BENNETT: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, you have a lot of demands on your time.

We appreciate you spending some time with us this evening.

Thank you.

KAREN BASS: Thank you.

I appreciate it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Adding to concerns over President Trump's deployment of troops to Los Angeles this week were his remarks at Fort Bragg last night.

AMNA NAWAZ: The president spoke to a crowd that was reportedly handpicked for a political point of view.

He delivered highly partisan remarks and sold MAGA merchandise on the U.S. base.

For perspective on this, we turn now to Graham Parsons.

He was a tenured philosophy professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, until he quit last month in protest after the Trump administration limited which books and classes could be taught.

Graham Parsons, welcome to the "News Hour."

Before we get to the Fort Bragg event, I just want to get your take on this moment in Los Angeles, where we now have hundreds of Marines, thousands of National Guard troops, deployed against the governor's wishes, to respond to civilian protests.

What are you making as you watch this moment unfold?

GRAHAM PARSONS, Former West Point Professor: Well, I'm very concerned.

This is -- I mean, there's two concerns really.

First, it's a law enforcement issue.

Law enforcement is very different from war.

And law enforcement is consistent with the constitutional order and the civil rights that all Americans are supposed to have.

War doesn't regard constitutional rights.

There's combatants and noncombatants.

And combatants, you can basically do whatever you want to.

There's no civil protections for combatants.

So my concern is that the Trump administration has militarized what is effectively a law enforcement issue.

This is a really grave threat to the constitutional order.

Soldiers, for one, aren't trained to engage in law enforcement.

They don't know how to engage with people and respect their constitutional rights.

And then, secondly, it's -- the Trump administration is teeing up a resort to potentially the Insurrection Act, which would effectively be the declaration of martial law, which is literally the negation of the constitutional order.

So there's a really profound constitutional problem here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let me ask you... GRAHAM PARSONS: Then the second issue.... AMNA NAWAZ: Oh, please go ahead.

GRAHAM PARSONS: Yes, sorry.

The second issue is, it's not just any law enforcement issue.

It's a -- it's a conflict over the policies of this particular administration, OK, so it's a political conflict between opponents of the administration and the administration.

And the administration has really leaned into this.

They're calling the protesters really inflammatory things, animals, insurrectionists, aliens, criminals, really treating them as not Americans.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Graham, if I may, I do want to get to the Fort Bragg incident because I know we spoke a bit about this earlier.

And for those who missed some of the president's remarks yesterday, I just want to play a few moments of what he had to say.

Here that is.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The fake news, ladies and gentlemen, look at them -- look at them all.

Ay yi yi, what I have to put up with.

Fake news.

(BOOING) DONALD TRUMP: This is a record crowd.

You never -- you never had a crowd this big.

That's an honor.

You think this crowd would have showed up for Biden?

I don't think so.

I don't think so.

I don't think so.

(LAUGHTER) DONALD TRUMP: Maybe I'm wrong.

In Los Angeles, the governor of California, the mayor of Los Angeles... (BOOING) DONALD TRUMP: ... they're incompetent.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Graham, we saw some reporting from Military.com today that said the soldiers were handpicked based on their political leanings, their physical appearance.

There was one internal communication they reviewed that read no fat soldiers.

As we reported earlier, they were selling MAGA merchandise on the U.S. base.

What does all of this say to you about the longstanding line between the military and partisan politics?

GRAHAM PARSONS: Oh, it's in grave danger.

I really can't overstate how disgusting that event was.

But it also should be noted, it's not in isolation.

It's been building toward this really extreme version of it.

But Trump has been interacting with the military for the last few months as a partisan.

He's tried to make the military appear a part of his brand.

And now he's basically having political rallies at military installations.

And I would expect this to be the new normal.

So I would watch out for the - - his remarks on Saturday at the parade in D.C.

This is -- the politicization of the military is extremely dangerous.

And it goes back to my concern about the conflict in California being a political conflict between the administration and its opponents.

By politicizing the military, you're giving the -- you're sending a message to the troops and to the American public that the military is an ally of this narrow political faction that Trump embodies.

This is extremely dangerous.

And we should all be very, very upset.

AMNA NAWAZ: So I have less than a minute here, but you mentioned that parade coming up this weekend.

That's obviously to mark the Army's 250th anniversary.

It also happens to be President Trump's 79th birthday.

We have had military parades in the U.S. before, but, briefly, if you can, what's different about this?

GRAHAM PARSONS: What's different about this is, the planners have explicitly said this is about President Trump.

So, the script -- the promotional materials that have come out have lauded the president and his America first policies for saving the military, in effect.

So this is not just a celebration of the Army.

It's a celebration of the president.

So, again, it's another example of using the military to support and build the brand of the president and his politics.

AMNA NAWAZ: Graham Parsons, formerly of West Point, we thank you so much for joining us tonight.

Appreciate your time.

GRAHAM PARSONS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we start today's other headlines with the ongoing trade wars.

President Trump says that tariffs on Chinese imports will stand at 55 percent after U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached a framework agreement after two days of talks.

But that figure appears to be a combination of levies already in place, and no details of the agreement have been made public.

Writing on social media, Mr. Trump said, "The deal is done," adding that China will resume trading rare earth minerals and other components that are critical for electronics manufacturing.

In return, the administration would drop its plans to revoke visas from Chinese students studying in the U.S., among other concessions.

But the president also said today that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would have to sign off on any final deal.

Against the backdrop of those ongoing China tariffs, new data show that U.S. consumer prices rose slightly last month.

The U.S. Labor Department reported today that inflation rose 2.4 percent in May compared with the year ago.

That's up slightly from a month before, but actually less than expected, as higher costs for groceries and large appliances were offset by falling prices for cars and hotel rooms.

Economists say the data suggests that companies have been holding off on passing on the cost of tariffs to consumers, at least for now.

The EPA is seeking to roll back Biden era rules that limit the greenhouse gas is emitted from U.S. coal and gas power plants.

The agency also aims to loosen regulations on emissions of certain toxic substances like mercury.

They're the latest efforts by the Trump administration to reverse policies aimed at curbing climate change.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says the effort will cut costs and free the industry from standards that he calls gratuitous.

LEE ZELDIN, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: Rules were enacted seeking to suffocate our economy in order to protect the environment, seeking to make all sorts of industries, including coal and more, disappear, regulate them out of existence.

GEOFF BENNETT: Power plants are the second biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the country, behind transportation.

Environmental groups say they are prepared to challenge the rules in court.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodged questions today about the Trump administration's plans to use a luxury jet from Qatar as Air Force One.

During a Senate hearing today, Democratic Senator Jack Reed pressed Hegseth over the cost of upgrading the jet to meet security standards.

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): You have signed a contract with a company to reconfigure the aircraft.

What is the price of that contract?

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Defense Secretary: That cannot be revealed in this setting.

SEN. JACK REED: Why can't it be revealed in this setting?

This is the Appropriations Committee of the United States Senate.

We appropriate the money that you will spend.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Pentagon said last month it had taken possession of the Boeing 747 jet, but there has been no formal agreement signed between Qatar and the U.S. that would finalize the transfer.

Critics have raised security concerns about the plane and warned that the arrangement could violate the Constitution's ban on accepting foreign gifts.

Billionaire Elon Musk appears to be doing some damage control after his public falling out with President Trump.

The former head of DOGE posted in the early hours this morning: "I regret some of my posts about President Trump last week.

They went too far."

Musk recently deleted a post in which he claimed, without evidence, that the government was hiding information about Trump's association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Today, Mr. Trump told The New York Post that he thought it was very nice that Musk said something, but didn't go any further towards repairing the relationship.

A jury in New York found Harvey Weinstein guilty of one of the sex crimes charges against him.

The disgraced film producer was convicted of a first-degree criminal sexual act for assaulting a production assistant in 2006, but he was acquitted on another sex crimes charge.

And jurors will continue to deliberate a third assault charge tomorrow.

Weinstein was initially convicted in 2020, a landmark moment for the MeToo movement, but a New York appeals court overturned that verdict last year over witness testimony.

He has long maintained his innocence.

The world's most popular TikTok personality has left the U.S. voluntarily after being detained since Friday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Khaby Lame is known as TikTok's silent star.

He doesn't say a word in his comedy videos.

Lame is Senegalese with Italian citizenship and has more than 162 million followers on TikTok.

He'd allegedly overstayed his visa.

That's according to ICE.

The agency said in a statement that he was allowed to leave the U.S. without a deportation order which could have prevented him from being allowed back into the country for up to a decade.

Russia launched a new large-scale drone attack on Ukraine overnight.

Authorities say three people were killed and at least 64 others were wounded.

MAN (through translator): Kharkiv is under attack yet again.

GEOFF BENNETT: The mayor of Kharkiv addressed residents as emergency teams tried to put out the fires caused by the strikes.

Officials say multiple apartment buildings and homes were damaged.

Russia has launched some of its heaviest drone and missile strikes of the war in recent days.

Moscow says they are retaliation for recent Ukrainian attacks on Russia.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended little changed as traders wait for more details on that U.S.-China agreement.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost a single point on the day, so basically flat.

The Nasdaq gave back nearly 100 points.

The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory.

And a passing of note.

One of music's undisputed geniuses and the main creative force behind the Beach Boys has died.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has this remembrance.

JEFFREY BROWN: As a founder of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson helped define an early '60s Southern California pop music sound, celebrating cars, the beach, the surfing life.

With numerous hits, the band, three Wilson brothers, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine, was arguably the most popular American rock group of the 1960s.

And Brian Wilson was its creative genius.

He would turn from the beach to the recording studio to change the sound of rock music again through experiments that led to the 1966 concept album "Pet Sounds."

It was a hugely influential project, one that inspired the Beatles to new heights with their album "Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" a year later.

"Pet Sounds" is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

But Wilson himself spent much of the rest of his life battling mental illness, depression and drug use.

And the Beach Boys as a band suffered through internal disputes.

The project Brian Wilson hoped would be his greatest achievement produced a huge hit single, "Good Vibrations," in 1966, but release of the full album titled "Smile" wouldn't come until 2011.

Wilson continued to perform occasionally in public, was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and published a memoir in 2016.

When the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, Wilson said this: BRIAN WILSON, Musician: I wanted to write joyful music that made other people feel good.

JEFFREY BROWN: Last year, it was revealed he'd been diagnosed with dementia and placed under a conservatorship.

Brian Wilson's family announced his death this morning, without stating a cause.

He was 82 years old, and his music, a soundtrack for millions, lives on.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.

GEOFF BENNETT: Still to come on the "News Hour": U.S.

Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee discusses the ongoing conflict in Gaza; and Judy Woodruff visits an organization trying to build trust in communities.

AMNA NAWAZ: The bodies of two more Israeli hostages were recovered today in Gaza.

One was Yair Yaakov, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border on October 7 of 2023.

His two children and partner were released earlier.

The other hostage remains anonymous, at their family's request.

It's believed 53 hostages remain held by Hamas; 33 are thought to be dead.

The recovery serves as a grim reminder of the human cost of the Gaza war now 600-plus days into the carnage.

How will it end?

And what is the future for Palestinians, who have borne the brunt of the death and destruction from Israel's campaign?

For answers to those questions and more, I spoke earlier with Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Ambassador Huckabee, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Thank you for joining us.

MIKE HUCKABEE, U.S.

Ambassador to Israel: It is my pleasure.

Thank you.

And great to be here from Jerusalem.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let me begin by asking you about a recent interview you gave.

You were asked about the U.S. policy and if the U.S. is no longer pursuing the goal of an independent Palestinian state.

And you said: "I don't think so."

It's worth pointing out that a two-state solution has been a cornerstone of U.S. policy and diplomatic efforts in the Middle East for at least the last three decades.

Is this a new U.S. policy that you're articulating here?

MIKE HUCKABEE: It's not so much a new policy.

It's simply the pragmatic reality that right now there's just no appetite for it.

There's no plans for it.

Nobody's come up with a workable plan.

One of the things that I admire most about President Trump, he is the ultimate pragmatist, that he has two questions that he poses for every decision,will it work and will it make things better?

So, the question is, if you created and imposed a two-state solution in the midst of a post-October 7 world, would it work and would it make things better?

I'm not hearing anybody who can explain how it would work and how it would make things better.

So I'm not saying it'll never happen.

I'm not saying it aspirationally is not something that maybe people would love to see.

But I'm simply saying that, for the immediate future, for the time being, I don't hear anyone really going out there and saying it, that it ought to happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, whether it's in the near future or the distant future, I think the question is whether it's something the U.S. wants to work towards.

In saying "I don't think so," you articulated a change to what's been the longstanding U.S. policy.

Is that something you spoke to President Trump about and does he agree with you?

MIKE HUCKABEE: It's not something we have had a conversation about.

But, if you go back to his first term, he never brought it up.

It was simply not something that he was focused upon, because what he was really focused upon was a much bigger realignment of the Middle East.

So he initiated the Abraham Accords, which I think were incredibly historic, and he invited the Palestinians to be part of that process.

They refused.

They walked away.

They wanted no part of it.

I think the president is poised to do something incredibly significant in his second term, and that would be a dramatic expansion of the Abraham Accords.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, sir, as you know, the Abraham Accords were meant to be a precursor towards normalization between the two largest economies in the region.

That would be Saudi Arabia and Israel.

And we have seen the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, say that there will be no normalization without an independent Palestinian state.

So can there be normalization unless the U.S. is actively working towards a two-state solution?

MIKE HUCKABEE: Well, I think that there certainly can be.

And, once again, it doesn't always mean that the Palestinian state is going to be right in the middle of Judea and Samaria.

There are many questions to be raised about, where would it be, how would it be formulated, how would it be governed?

AMNA NAWAZ: Where else would you suggest it might be?

MIKE HUCKABEE: So, it's one thing to say we would -- well, I said the French Riviera.

France seems to really be just heavy on this whole idea.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ambassador, all due respect, is that a real suggestion, that you would forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the French Riviera?

MIKE HUCKABEE: I would say it's about as real as saying that, as long as the Palestinians are paying people to murder Jewish people, which they do, or to teach them from the time they're 6 years old that it is a wonderful thing to kill a Jewish person, and their families are rewarded with a pension or a park or a street named after them, you're probably not going to see this resolved.

There has to be a cultural shift.

But here's what I would also mention.

A lot of people don't think about this.

Israel is a tiny little country.

It's a sliver of land the size of New Jersey.

Muslim-run countries have 644 times the amount of real estate than Israel does.

So when I hear people say Israel just needs to give up some of the land, well, they have given up quite a bit.

They have given up Gaza.

That was a Palestinian state.

That was a 100 percent Palestinian state.

And it could have been Singapore.

But Hamas turned it into Haiti.

There has been such a disastrous economic problem that goes on in the Palestinian Authority.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ambassador, setting aside the failures of the Palestinian leadership over the years, I want to get back to this question you raised about where a Palestinian independent state could reside.

You mentioned that Muslim countries have a good amount of land in neighboring states.

I want to be clear about this.

Are you suggesting that five million Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank be located - - relocated from their lands and their homes to neighboring countries?

Is that what you're suggesting here?

MIKE HUCKABEE: No, not at all.

No, and I think that it would be very, very, probably disastrous to try to say, you have to leave, you can't stay.

Nobody's suggesting that.

And, by the way, President Trump has been very clear in talking about Gaza and its future.

Nobody's going to be forced to leave.

I think there are going to be a lot of people that want to leave.

Under Hamas, they can't leave.

But give people the freedom of movement.

But the question is, tell us where this would work.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you about the continued Israeli war effort in Gaza, which, as you know, is now over about a year-and-a-half old.

As you know, the numbers so far are horrifying.

And we have seen some 55,000 Palestinians killed in more than a year-and-a-half of that war.

And I know the Israeli military and government are obviously saying the aim here is to destroy Hamas after the horrific attacks of October the 7th.

I just wonder, when you look at that death toll, do you and the U.S. government, do you believe that that's justified in the pursuit of Hamas?

MIKE HUCKABEE: I would dispute that the numbers are accurate, because those are the numbers that are given by the same Hamas that has been very dishonest in virtually all of the so-called news that they have reported, including some of the reports that they put out, which were totally false, about the humanitarian feeding effort.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, to that point, Ambassador, what numbers are you working with?

MIKE HUCKABEE: I think a lot of people, I don't know if it's 20,000, 25,000, 30,000.

Too many.

Too many people have died.

But they have died because Hamas, who could have ended this on October the 8th of 2023, have dug in.

They have held hostages.

They have tortured them.

They have murdered them.

They already murdered 1,200 Jewish people and other people from many countries around the world, including a good number of Americans, and held Americans hostage, still holding two Americans hostage, who are deceased, but their remains are still held.

All of this time, this could have ended, but Hamas has to determine that it will not have a future in Gaza, it will not try to govern in the future.

And that's a reasonable demand that the president of the United States has made very clear has to be met.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ambassador, there is five million Palestinians across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who are looking to the U.S. and other places for leadership, who have told us repeatedly they do not want to leave the lands and the homes that their families trace back for generations and generations and are now faced with the impossible situation in Gaza having to put their lives at risk to get food for their families.

I wonder if you can speak directly to them and tell them what your message would be today about their future.

MIKE HUCKABEE: Their message should be tell Hamas they got to leave.

Tell them they no longer will respect any authority from them.

Don't allow them to continue to run your lives.

You voted them into power back in 2005 when they took full control of Gaza.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ambassador, as you well know, more than half the population of Gaza is under the age of 18.

They had nothing to do with that election.

Surely you're not saying they should be held responsible for those actions.

MIKE HUCKABEE: No, they should be set free.

That's why we're trying to get Hamas out, because Hamas has made it so that most of the population is young.

The older ones didn't have much of a life there.

What did they do with the billions and billions and billions of dollars that were poured into Gaza to make it one of the most wonderful places on Earth?

But what did they do?

They built tunnels.

They built a tunnel system that is larger than the London underground, and they did it for one purpose, to one day wake up and to murder Jews, slaughter them, massacre them, mutilate them on October the 7th, and then pledge they'd like to do it again.

That's why we're in the mess we're in.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, joining us from Jerusalem tonight.

Ambassador Huckabee, thank you for your time.

We appreciate it.

MIKE HUCKABEE: It's been a pleasure.

Thank you very much.

GEOFF BENNETT: To North Carolina now, where Judy Woodruff visited a project aimed at restoring social trust, part of a broader national effort to boost civic engagement.

Judy's report is part of her ongoing series America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: They gathered in a backyard in Raleigh on a recent Thursday night to play games, check in on their recent ups and downs and reflect on what it means to be a man, on emotions and on identity.

JORDAN BOWMAN, Executive Director, Journeymen Triangle: What is healthy masculinity?

I'd love to hear your unfiltered thoughts.

JUDY WOODRUFF: This is one of Journeymen's J-Groups that meets twice a month, part of their broader mission to create a circle of trust, to foster connection and character among young men.

TRISTAN NEAL, Journeymen Mentee: When I was 12, I was really angry a lot, easily frustrated and I would lash out.

It was a new experience to be in a circle of people and to be asked to talk about things that I never really talked about before.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Seventeen-year-old Tristan Neal joined Journeymen five years ago.

He says it has helped shape who he's become.

TRISTAN NEAL: There's the idea that to be a man you have to be stoic and strong and to not show what you're feeling.

And that really takes a toll on your mental health and your emotional health when you're sort of just bottling everything up and pretending like it's fine.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Founded in 2013, the nonprofit focuses on building strong relationships and trust between the boys and their mentors.

It also focuses on emotional development, teaching them how to express their feelings, and addressing some of the root causes of anti-social behavior and poor academic performance.

A key milestone is its annual Rites of Passage Adventure weekend.

JORDAN BOWMAN: We're teaching the young men to realize that they have impact, that their actions and words have impact on others.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For executive director Jordan Bowman, the message is simple.

JORDAN BOWMAN: You belong, you matter, your pain matters, and we can't take that from you, but we can teach you how to face it.

And as we teach you how to face it, it will become a gift.

JUDY WOODRUFF: He says he never received that message growing up until he went on a similar camp when he was 14.

JORDAN BOWMAN: I had experienced hard things growing up, but I never learned about how to turn that pain into a gift.

And it was really important for me to learn that.

And, as I did, I thought, how many other young people don't have this experience, that don't have a community to belong, to be connected to?

JUDY WOODRUFF: Recent research confirms that young men today are struggling.

One in four men under age 35 report feeling lonely, significantly higher than women the same age and the national average.

And that's one factor that studies have linked to an increased vulnerability to extremist ideologies.

JORDAN BOWMAN: Men and boys are experiencing social isolation more than their female counterparts.

Boys are dropping out of college more.

They're not in relationships.

They're not involved in the work force in the same way that they were 10, 15 years ago.

Male loneliness is like a phenomenon that I think more people are starting to understand now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Two years ago as a high school freshman, 16-year-old Axel Cuba Arroyo joined Journeymen, but reluctantly.

AXEL CUBA ARROYO, Journeymen Mentee: Kind of down.

I was just like let me just go.

And then I started enjoying it, really connected with some of the people there.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That connection, he says, changed his direction.

AXEL CUBA ARROYO: Well, asking those deeper questions and then slowly peeling the onion and unraveling it, and we're able to have those connections and expand more on some other problems.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And making you somehow feel safe to bare yourself to people?

AXEL CUBA ARROYO: I would say definitely the tone and the setting of all of us being able to be there, I want you to trust me so I can help you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The Journeymen program here in Raleigh is supported by a national organization called Weave: The Social Fabric Project.

It began seven years ago as a way of addressing the crisis of broken social trust that has contributed so heavily to our cultural and political divide.

DAVID BROOKS, Founder, Weave: The Social Fabric Project: Well, all the things I write about and all the things we talk about on the "News Hour," like political polarization, conflict, it occurred to me that a lot of the distemper of our times has roots not only in our politics, but underneath our politics within the social fabric.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Founded by New York Times columnist and PBS News commentator David Brooks, Weave supports local efforts that prioritize connection over division.

DAVID BROOKS: There are people in every neighborhood who are fixing the problem in their neighborhood.

And we call them weavers.

JUDY WOODRUFF: According to the Pew Research Center, fewer than half of Americans say they trust most of the people in their neighborhoods, a 15 percent drop from a decade ago.

Weave's goal?

Reverse that.

DAVID BROOKS: We thought, if we could get more people to think of themselves as weavers, that it was normal for me to be active in my community, normal for me to know that the people who live right around me, then that would have a big social effect.

JUDY WOODRUFF: These weavers are everywhere, says Brooks, and have been doing this sort of work all along.

FREDERICK RILEY, Executive Director, Weave: The Social Fabric Project: Most of them are saying, I don't know why I'm doing this.

I don't have anything that I have hacked into or there's no organization helping us.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Frederick Riley heads the Weave project at the Aspen Institute.

FREDERICK RILEY: What we have given them is something bigger to link their work to, but also using the stories of what they're doing to amplify other people to dig in deeper.

JUDY WOODRUFF: He and his team created the Social Trust Map, a digital tool using data to identify trusting behaviors, intentions, and spaces across the U.S. FREDERICK RILEY: We are in places that are tough neighborhoods.

We're in places that are rural that have been kind of like depleted, but we're also in suburban neighborhoods, like in Washington state.

It was important to us when we started this work to be -- to do work that actually was applicable to red and blue states.

And it's important because bringing those groups together is the only way we're going to build trust in this country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: There are now more than 10,000 weavers in this network, many of them people already doing the work quietly to build trust in their communities, from a supper club in Maine to a community garden in Baltimore and a group running beautification projects in Washington state that also helps bridge political divides.

DAVID BROOKS: Trust is hard to build because trust travels at the speed of relationships, and relationships take time to build.

But norms are built.

If you can shift how people think they should behave, then you can have vast social effects really fast.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the Journeymen program, building that trust and the skills to navigate difficult conversations help bridge some of these divides.

Do you see a connection between what you're doing, what you have been doing with Journeymen has improved your understanding of other people, of differences between people?

TRISTAN NEAL: Yes.

No, for sure.

We have certainly had a few political conversations.

The ability to debate things like that, I keep going back to level-headed and maintaining calm.

And that's, I think, just such an important thing and to try and empathize and understand the other person, why they think what they think, where they're coming from.

Even for nonpolitical issues, I think in everyday life it's a great tool to have.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Journeymen now operates in four schools in the Raleigh area and hopes to expand further.

JORDAN BOWMAN: I mean, I wouldn't be where I was today unless I had people I could look up to and trust.

And it's what drives me.

It kind of feeds my fire is, like, I had this, and because I had this, I became a different person.

I kind of chose a different path.

It's our responsibility to do that.

We need to be showing up in the lives of young people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For Tristan Neal, who graduates this month, the next step is to give back by becoming a mentor himself.

TRISTAN NEAL: I like to think anyway that I'm very centered and calm and I'm more capable of navigating conflict level-headedly.

I have the ability to support other people as I have been supported.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Raleigh, North Carolina.

GEOFF BENNETT: Before we go tonight, we had reported at the top of the broadcast that the National Guard had temporarily detained civilians in the fallout of the L.A. protests.

That was based on Associated Press reporting that has since been corrected.

The National Guard commander says his information was incorrect and that the Guard has not detained civilians.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.